Yes, typically a run of say 20 feet will be no problem, but it is dependent on the impedance characteristics of your speakers, as well as on the wire's gauge and other characteristics.
The constraints are:
1)The total resistance of the round-trip run (40 feet for a 20 foot cable) should be a very small fraction of the impedance of the speaker, at the lowest point on the speaker's impedance vs frequency curve.
For 14 gauge wire, a 20 foot run (a 40 foot round-trip for the signal) has a resistance of about 0.1 ohms. That would be acceptably small in relation to the impedance of nearly all speakers which are not named Infinity Kappa 9 or Apogee. :)
2)The inductive reactance of the cable at 20kHz (the worst case frequency within the audio band) should be significantly less than the impedance of the speakers at 20kHz. Otherwise the upper treble will be attenuated slightly. As a rough approximation, speaker cables of reasonable gauge and conventional construction will have an inductance of around 0.3 microHenries per foot, which would be 12 uH for 40 feet, which would be about 1.4 ohms of inductive reactance at 20kHz. That would be fine in relation to an 8 ohm speaker impedance at 20 kHz, and within reason even in relation to 4 ohms.
See the following thread for further information, links to some calculators, and discussion of cable selection for long runs:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1244061809
Regards,
-- Al
The constraints are:
1)The total resistance of the round-trip run (40 feet for a 20 foot cable) should be a very small fraction of the impedance of the speaker, at the lowest point on the speaker's impedance vs frequency curve.
For 14 gauge wire, a 20 foot run (a 40 foot round-trip for the signal) has a resistance of about 0.1 ohms. That would be acceptably small in relation to the impedance of nearly all speakers which are not named Infinity Kappa 9 or Apogee. :)
2)The inductive reactance of the cable at 20kHz (the worst case frequency within the audio band) should be significantly less than the impedance of the speakers at 20kHz. Otherwise the upper treble will be attenuated slightly. As a rough approximation, speaker cables of reasonable gauge and conventional construction will have an inductance of around 0.3 microHenries per foot, which would be 12 uH for 40 feet, which would be about 1.4 ohms of inductive reactance at 20kHz. That would be fine in relation to an 8 ohm speaker impedance at 20 kHz, and within reason even in relation to 4 ohms.
See the following thread for further information, links to some calculators, and discussion of cable selection for long runs:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1244061809
Regards,
-- Al